Martin Popoff: In order: Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Brian May, Roger Waters, Brian Robertson, Roger Taylor, Steven Tyler, Brian Downey, Peter Criss, Brian Johnson, James Hetfield, Angus Young, Burke Shelley, David Gilmour.
Who have been your best and worst interviews?
Best: Bill Ward, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, John Paul Jones – always smart, polite, good interesting stuff to say. Worst: Ace Frehley (like from another planet – strange). Phoner with Ozzy – hard to understand. At the height of his medication. But then had a great in-person with him – smart, very nice man, funny, caring. Night and day, those two chats. Lemmy’s a bit prickly, but what you do get is usually pretty amusing.
There are a million metal genres and subgenres. What are your most and least favorite ones?
Death metal least favourite, also goth, extreme black metal. Wow, never thought of most favourite sub-genre. I suppose the old stuff, being old and all! My most favourite are bands with 20 albums or more. But, I suppose I like stoner rock, doom, hair metal even.
What are some up and coming bands you think will make it big?
Lamb Of God keep getting bigger and they deserve it. Black Dahlia Murder, Alexis On Fire, Unearth, Shadows Fall. Children Of Bodom keep getting bigger, it seems. Bring it on! I want Michael Amott to tour Spiritual Beggars in ’06!
What books are you working on now?
A Sabbath, the ‘90s, and one I can’t tell you about.
Anything else you'd like to mention?
I have the last copies of some of my books that anybody has, for sale through my site www.martinpopoff.com There are full descriptions there, prices, and I take PayPal of course. Some low priced, slightly “handled” copies also available. But yeah, about half my books are essentially sold out, and I’ve got the last box or two of those. Anybody wanna email me, I’m at martinp@inforamp.net Thanks, this has been fun.
Martin Popoff's Best And Worst Of 2005:
Top 20 for 2005
1) DEEP PURPLE – Rapture Of The Deep (Eagle Rock/Spitfire)
2) FOZZY – All That Remains (Fozzy)
3) OPETH – Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner)
4) FALCONER - Grime Vs. Grandeur (Metal Blade)
5) CANDLEMASS – Candlemass (Nuclear Blast)
6) BRAINSTORM - Liquid Monster (Metal Blade)
7) THE DUKE – My Kung Fu Is Good (Spitfire)
8) PRESTO BALLET – Peace Among The Ruins (InsideOut)
9) CLUTCH – Robot Hive/Exodus (DRT/Universal/Navarre)
10) GLENN HUGHES – Soul Mover (Sanctuary)
11) KING’S X – Ogre Tones (InsideOut Music)
12) BRAND NEW SIN – Recipe For Disaster (Century Media)
13) RUSSELL ALLAN – Atomic Soul (InsideOut)
14) SENTENCED – The Funeral Album (Century Media)
15) EUROPE – Start From The Dark (Friday Music)
16) MERCENARY – 11 Dreams (Century Media)
17) JELLO BIAFRA & THE MELVINS – Sieg Howdy! (Alternative Tentacles)
18) DARK TRANQUILLITY – Character (Century Media)
19) AMERICAN DOG – Scars-N-Bars (Outlaw)
20) ALICE COOPER – Dirty Diamonds (New West)
Top 5 Brave Embarrassments
1) HELLOWEEN – Keeper Of The Seven Keys – The Legacy (SPV)
The atrocious mangling of the English language at least distracted me from the happy meal metal.
2) F5 – A Drug For All Seasons (Deadline)
I don’t even know why this bothers me – oh I know, the Edie Brickell cover.
3) BIOHAZARD – Means To An End (SPV)
Like being mugged during a smog alert and heat wave.
4) CEMETARY – Phantasma (Black Mark)
Retire the name, or come back heavy – I kinda miss this band.
5) NUCLEAR ASSAULT – Third World Genocide (SPV)
Being old school sometimes is an embarrassing mistake.
